Published reports indicate an alleged rape was not publicly reported for nearly two weeks. It began when a woman took a cab ride from the Seaport District and may not have been reported because of a dispute over who should patrol the Boston district -- local police or the Massachusetts State Police.

The woman told police that on Aug. 6, 2013, she took a cab ride from Northern Avenue in the Seaport area. The cab took her to Nonantum Road in Newton, where she was allegedly raped near a public skating rink.

The case was reported publicly Aug. 16, 2013.

In response to questions, Boston Mayor Tom Menino said, "This is an issue I've been dealing with for two years. When you work together, you get things done. But when they don't want to work together, things happen."

He has pushed for legislation to have Boston police also patrol the Seaport District.

"I'm angry about it, but we have concurrent jurisdictions on many roads in city of Boston right now. Why can't we have it in the waterfront? It's not about details. It's not about overtime. It's about public safety," Menino said.

The head of the State Police called published newspaper reports a "thinly veiled attempt to mislead the public, elected officials and business owners in carrying forward a shallow and shameful political agenda."

Col. Timothy Alben said, " ... the only connection to the Seaport was apparently the fact that the victim had taken an unregulated cab from that area."

Alben's lengthy statement concluded, "this is an isolated incident, one that State Police detectives are working diligently to solve."

A rape crisis expert called communication about assaults important. Meg Bossong is manager of Community Engagement for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

"The best practice in terms of community notification is, is there information that police departments can release without compromising the investigation that could give the community information that could help everyone keep each other safer, so, what was the behavior of the offender? Were they targeting a particular area at a particular time of day? Are they targeting a particular type of person? What is information that people can use to be on the lookout for behavior that’s inappropriate?" she said.

The issue was summed up by an unidentified young woman headed into a Northern Avenue restaurant.

"It's really scary because they have all these taxis and black cars that can pick you up. These people say 'I work for that or you can trust me, I’ll give you a good deal' and you just want to get in the cab and get a ride home. It's definitely unnerving," she said.